What You Can Learn From Fonix Mobile plc's (LON:FNX) P/E

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 24.7x Fonix Mobile plc (LON:FNX) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United Kingdom have P/E ratios under 21x and even P/E's lower than 11x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/E.

Fonix Mobile could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. It might be that many expect the dour earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be extremely nervous about the viability of the share price.

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What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

Fonix Mobile's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 1.2% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 89% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 24% as estimated by the sole analyst watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 18%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Fonix Mobile is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Fonix Mobile's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Fonix Mobile you should know about.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Fonix Mobile, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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